[Peace-discuss] smithfield pigs tested for H1N1 aka "s.f."

[E. Wayne Johnson]

Smithfield completes testing on Mexican pigs, awaits results
 
By Tom Johnston on 5/5/2009 (Meatingplace online)
 
Smithfield Foods on Sunday submitted to the Mexican government samples 
taken from pigs at a farm the company jointly owns in Veracruz, Mexico, 
in its effort to confirm that none is infected with 2009 H1N1 virus.

The move came as Canadian health officials announced that the strain was 
discovered in a Canadian hog herd. (See Canada confirms H1N1 in swine 
herd, farm worker may be cause on Meatingplace, May 4, 2009.)

In a letter to employees last week, CEO C. Larry Pope indicated 
Smithfield hired an independent laboratory to conduct additional testing 
on its Mexican hogs after initial inspections by the company and 
international health officials found no evidence of the illness. He said 
results would be returned in a "few" days.

Mexican government authorities will conduct further testing, including 
genetic sequence analysis, to determine if any flu strains are present. 
These tests will take about 12 days, Keira Ullrich, Smithfield's 
investor relations manager, told Meatingplace.

"The results will enable us to conclude with certainty that the A(H1N1) 
strain is not present in our hogs," she said in an e-mail.
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